Three arrested in raid on Reading massage parlor

Reading police arrested three women who were working as prostitutes in a massage parlor Friday on Lancaster Avenue following an investigation over several weeks, investigators said.

Police raided the Sports Spa at 914 Lancaster Ave. on Friday afternoon after an undercover agent paid workers there to have sex with him, according to court documents.

Police arrested the three women and identified them as Hee Yang Kim, 40, Shi Melnu, 36, and Hiw Cha Kim, 63, who was managing the business.

Police said two of the women are from Korea and the other is from China. None spoke English or had identification. Police do not know where they live or how they ended up in Reading.

Police have contacted the U.S. Attorney’s office in Philadelphia and plan to continue the investigation with the help of federal law enforcement agencies.

Police were looking for the owner of the business, a woman in the New York City area whom they contacted by telephone after the raid.

The woman told police she would come in for an interview but had failed to show up at City Hall by Friday night, investigators said.

The three women who were arrested were awaiting arraignment late Friday on prostitution and related charges.

Police said the investigation began after they received complaints from residents.

“We’re going to focus our attention on anything the community complains about,” Lt. Mark Talbot of the Reading vice and narcotics division said. “In this case it ended up being a business that was a front for prostitution.”

Police said the business was nicely decorated but had none of the tables or equipment they would expect to find in a legitimate massage therapy business.

Police said they had surveillance on the building for several weeks and watched as men arrived and spent 45 to 60 minutes inside.

Undercover agents visited the business twice and paid $180 each time to have sex with the women. The workers told them $70 was the house fee and that it would cost $110 more to have sex.

Police said two naked men were in the business during the raid but their names were not released and they were not charged.

An investigation continues.

The business is less than a block away from the site of another massage parlor that was raided and shut down by police several years ago for operating as a bordello.